Thursday, July 17, 2014 - It's nearly impossible to contain your exuberant self-expression today now that the enterprising Aries Moon is striking up the band in your 5th House of Spontaneity. However, your creative excitement may be too much to handle for those around you. Being less demonstrative is not a sensible solution, but it helps to give others time to show off their talents, too. Encouraging friends and co-workers to embark on an adventure with you might be more rewarding than just standing on the stage alone.

The rectus abdominis (the six-pack muscles) is the primary focus, though the obliques will definitely get some work with the knee raises and rollouts. This is a great routine to try if you’ve hit a plateau with your ab training or have fallen into the habit of only using high or low rep ranges, as the abs tend to respond well to both.

It’s April, and by now the resolution crowd has already thinned considerably. Even if you can’t identify with the guy who starts out strong on Jan. 1 and then quits a few weeks later, you probably can identify with the ebb and flow of periods of success and periods of stagnation. There are days, weeks, months, even years when everything seems to click. Then there’s the flip side of the coin—the times when you’re hampered by injuries, lack of motivation or energy, or no clear goal.

Over the next month, we’ll hit your biceps with the utmost intensity while also paying close attention to the small details within each workout. Each week focuses on a particular area or aspect of biceps training. You’ve likely been using some of these exercises from week to week for quite a while, so they may be very familiar. But some moves and training schemes might be totally foreign to you, which is another great reason to tackle these tips. In addition, each week’s workout can be used in consecutive weeks.

We've all been there—the 5 o'clock after-work rush to the gym. It's loud, crowded, and you're waiting forever for equipment or free weights. But why deal with that mess when you can get a workout from home? Don't believe us? Well, here are eight routines we're confident you'll approve of.

You would never chase a workout with a Snickers, but if you scan the ingredients of the chocolate–peanut butter protein bar stuck to the inside of your gym bag, you’ll be shocked to discover what it really is: a glorified candy bar, complete with all the sugar, preservatives, artificial colors and flavors, and other half-baked ingredients that you go to great lengths to avoid everywhere else. Screw that! Making protein bars at home is easy (many recipes don’t even require an oven), and with the following guide from Camilla Saulsbury, author of Power Hungry: The Ultimate Energy Bar Cookbook , it’s a foolproof way to take your body and health back into your own hands.

“Weight training in general is necessary in burning fat because it stimulates the growth of lean muscle tissue, which in turn increases metabolism,” says Jim Ryno, owner of LIFT, a private personal training facility in Ramsey, New Jersey (InsideLift.com). “And supersetting actually increases the amount of work you perform in a specific time period, since you’re moving quickly from one exercise to another with minimal rest in between sets, which leads to a more intense workout and a higher expenditure of calories. Supersets are a sure-fire way to further boost your metabolic rate and burn fat faster without spending more time in the gym.”

What this tells you is that the almond-milk industry is selling you a jug of filtered water clouded by a handful of ground almonds. Which leads us to the question of price and profit. The almonds in the photo above are organic, and sold in bulk at my local HEB supermarket for $11.99 per pound; this one-ounce serving set me back about 66 cents. I could have bought nonorganic California almonds for $6.49 per pound, about 39 cents per ounce. That container of Califia, which contains roughly the same number of nonorganic almonds, retails for $3.99.

Sometimes, our fans can teach us a thing or two, which is why each week Muscle & Fitness will be selecting a Bad-Ass Workout of the Week, submitted by one of our highly knowledgeable readers. Then our training experts will explain why we chose the workout, how to make it even more bad-ass; and what training style it works for.

When back squatting. it's good to have shoes with a flat heel so that you can get as close to the floor as possible. However, if you are performing the front squat it is beneficial to have footwear with a heel of at least 1 inch, which will allow you to get more depth.

Shock and awe. For most major muscle groups, crushing the bodypart with heavy weight is enough to spark serious change. But when it comes to the smaller muscles like the biceps, load will only get you so far down the road of progress. After all, we’re talking pretty small muscles compared to the “majors.” It’s for that reason that we’ve designed this month’s killer series. We take load seriously, no doubt, but we deliver it with techniques and tactics you’ve never tried. Elements of training that when combined with intensity actually produce better results than you imagined. We’ve even taken methods that sound familiar to you into uncharted territory. And “uncharted territory” is exactly how you’ll describe your arms when you’re done.

Let’s cut to the chase: People who drink four or more cups coffee per day are 50 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who pass on the beverage. While you might start shaking at the thought of four cups, the amount of caffeine is still less than one bottle of 5 Hour Energy. But while most caffeinated drinks are just energy in a bottle or a cleverly hidden charge of sugar, coffee actually improves your sensitivity to insulin, which is a major factor in preventing diabetes and weight gain. In fact, Chinese researchers calculated that each cup of coffee decreases your risk of type 2 diabetes by 7 percent.

When I tried IF, I’d been training one or two days per week because of time constraints. I used carb back-loading adjusted to my training schedule to maintain my weight and strength. At 220 pounds, I had 6% body fat as tested by a water tank—a level that most of my noncompeting clients hold comfortably year-round with carb back-loading (with an application of Carb Nite to get there). I’d wake up, have coffee, then run through the rest of the day without food—and, for the most part, without hunger. At about 7 p.m., I re-fed like nobody’s business. For the first week, my workouts felt great, my skin tightened slightly, and no aspect of the diet was a challenge. Six weeks in, however, it was time to stop. Despite being easy and convenient, my body wasn’t coping well to IF’s demands. People told me I looked “small.” Not bad, mind you— just small. I lost 18 pounds, but I was neither ripped nor shredded. Instead, I was flat, and my skin felt loose. My abs disappeared, I felt like crap, and my strength decreased with each workout after the first week. I’d clearly lost lean mass during my IF trial.

I’ve been working out for years, also, and can tell you that I never feel sore anymore. Its an adaptation to working out, you are getting stronger and your muscles are tougher from it. Probably nothing to do with deer antler. Take a month off and then hit the weights hard, I guarantee u will feel sore. After years of lifting, soreness is no longer an issue, I can describe the feeling more as a tiredness within the muscle. And I love it when I really fry a muscle, and then later on in the day I’ll do something that causes a cramp in said muscle, and I’ll think to myself damn that was a good workout. Even then, it isn’t a soreness.

Are you constantly asking yourself, "What can I eat?" It's time to stop worrying! Living with diabetes doesn't have to mean feeling deprived. We'll help you learn to balance your meals and make the healthiest food choices.

I blogged about something similar to this just yesterday. I was coming more from the perspective that negative attitudes with people that I really want to help, shouldn’t be a DE-motivator for me. I want to help as many people as I can as a trainer, but it’s not my problem if they don’t want the help. I can’t control that. I can only be the healthiest ME I can be and I have to stop worrying about people who say they could care less about going to the gym/being healthy/cutting out the sugar etc. It’s taken me awhile to accept that. It can be very discouraging as a trainer and or a fitness professional to hear those words “I know I’m fat and I don’t care.” Luckily, I think with blogs like this and social networking and the abundance of trainers and professionals out there trying to make a positive impact really does help. Sorry I got a little off the topic here but it kind of goes along with what you were saying.

Even worse? Oftentimes those people doing cardio to lose fat are also on a low-calorie, low-carb diet. When this happens, you’re body doesn’t have much stored glycogen (the carbs you store in your muscles) so your body goes searching for other sources of energy. One of those energizers? Protein. And when that happens, you might start tapping into your muscle stores, which isn’t exactly what you want to do on a fat loss plan. Just to prove the point, in the same study by Wilson et al, people who did slow steady state cardio lost more muscle than those who performed the high intensity intervals.

The first rule of online coaching is focus on the client. I’m not here to give you a program and leave you to figure it out on your own. At Born Fitness, we earn your trust with results. So your confidence is essential in everything we do. If you’re not happy after your first month of coaching then we’ll refund your payment and try to help you find a better fit. You should believe that you have the right plan, so our guarantee is to ensure that your time and your money will always be worth it.

There are many different types of “fat burner” supplements on the market, but perhaps the most popular and effective category is thermogenics. Thermogenics work by boosting the body’s metabolism. That is, you burn more calories during a given activity, even if you’re just sitting on your butt watching Pumping Iron again. Most products achieve this effect by increasing norepinephrine (a neurotransmitter that the nervous system releases; it is basically a form of adrenaline). Synephrine is one supplement that raises norepinephrine. Try doses of five to 20 milligrams (mg), from a standardized Citrus aurantium extract, once or twice daily for amaximum of 40 mg per day.

Food should be shared. What good is a kitchen full of healthy goodness if everyone can’t enjoy? With that in mind, I’ll be sharing a wide variety of recipes on this site. Some will have a specific purpose (like building muscle or losing fat), some will put a new spin on an old recipe, and others will have no specific intention other than the fact that the food tastes really good.

I find, when working with new people in the gym, the smith machine is great to ensure a smoother transition to the bench. I’ve noticed guys on the bench land the bar inconsistently on their chest and often times stray too far backwards, leading to shoulder strain. By starting on the smith, they can focus on the push up, position stability and getting that back arched correctly. Doing all three for novice lifters is difficult and can slow their training.The exercise allows these same guys to build up tricep strength and lift more in that plane of movement, which accelerates their overall lifting capacity, in my opinion. Can also be super beneficial in breaking through plateaus for advanced lifters. When combined with barbell incline and dumbbells as well, it can be a powerful tool. I think it gets way more flak and far less attention than it deserves. As with any tool, it has its time and place for use.

Bear in mind beets aren’t always red; you can also get yellow, or golden, ones. And while they may never make your list of favorite foods, beets can be tastier than you give them credit for. Wrap them loosely in foil and roast at 400 ̊for an hour; they’ll come out tender and make a great side or salad ingredient. You can also toss them into a juicer for a whole-food pre-workout drink.

There are plenty of ways you can help your body along in the quest for more strength . Some adjustments are subtle and require little more than a change in hand position. Other changes could mean a full-program overhaul if you've been misled by an ill-informed trainer. Use these four tips to weed out any roadblocks that are standing between you and lifting more weight .

But my mistakes quickly gave way to important lessons and experts in food manufacturing and high-protein cooking started approaching me for advice, buying my books, and asking me for tips to improve existing or new high-protein foods. So I figured I was in the right track, you know? And I kept going – cooking, experimenting, and going through a ridiculous amount of aprons. Yes, I’ve had a LOT of kitchen disasters in my days. But I’m glad for all of them because it’s them that now enable me to save hundreds upon thousands – if not millions - of you from making the same mistakes that I did. So soak up these tips, jot them down, and learn from my guineapigging ways! Here are my top tips for what NOT to do when cooking with protein powder:

For about 20 years, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter has been a star in Major League Baseball. He was a star again at Tuesday night's MLB All-Star Game. The star. It started with a standing ovation when he walked onto the field for his first at-bat and continued when he left the field to another standing O in the fourth inning with two hits. Nevermind the fact that National League pitcher Adam Wainwright gifted Jeter with a big fat one right over the plate for a heart-warming double in that leadoff at-bat. It was the biggest stage so far on Jeter's farewell tour, much like Mariano Rivera's season-long goodbye last season.

But unscrambling egg labels can be tricky: "Free-range" eggs are supposed to come from hens allowed outdoor access while "free-run" means the birds are allowed to move freely in an indoor facility free of cages but likely don't spend anytime basking in sunshine. Unfortunately, neither label is tightly regulated. For example, the ease of outdoor access and the amount of time so-called "free-range" chickens actually spend in the sunshine is poorly regulated. And the range can mean anything from a large grassy field to a narrow pathway between barns to only a small concrete slab attached to a barn. What's more, there also isn't any mandate about how much time birds which produce "certified organic" eggs must spend in the great outdoors.

This is the hidden page for Layne Norton’s Scottish Day Camp. There are only 20 spaces on this day camp, so you need to book instantly to secure your place. This is a full 11 hour day with Layne, packed with seminars, training sessions, Q+A sessions and general hangouts!

Haney and Gaspari were training partners in 1984, the year Haney won his first Sandow. For the following seven years, as Haney collected seven more Sandows, Gaspari was chasing him, notching three straight runner-up Olympia finishes (1986-88). And while he had no hope of matching Haney's lat spread, The Dragon Slayer was determined to out-muscle the champ with back thickness and detail. To that end, his back workouts focussed on all the knotty details others overlook, not just in his lats but also in his spinal erectors, traps and rear delts. (Shrugs and rear laterals are not included in our sample back routine, but were typically done before deadlifts.) Weights were maximum, rests were minimal and intensity was sky high. He never caught Haney, but Gaspari overcame structural limitations to forge one of the best rear double-biceps shots of the '80s and make himself, for three years, the second-best bodybuilder in the world.

We all will endure the process of getting older. As we age, we lose muscle mass and bone density due to declining levels of key hormones and the outright cruelty of Father Time. But you don’t have to end up losing muscle and moving like an old man. The key to aging like one of the Expendables is to take care of your body now. You will not be able to recover as fast as you once did in your twenties but that does not mean you can’t feel and look awesome.

Behind-the-back barbell shrug: With an overhand grip, hold a barbell behind your thighs. Your hands and your feet should be spaced about shoulder-width apart with your knees slightly bent. While keeping your arms straight, lift your shoulders up toward your ears as high as possible. Focus on pulling the bar up and slightly behind you. Hold the contraction for a second before lowering the bar back to the start.

In Part 2 of our series, we once again go to the well of hard science and empirical data to support the use of specific supplements. Along with practical information on what form they should be taken in, we'll also explain how and when to take your supplements for best results. If you don't grow with this advice, well, forgive our skepticism.

The fiercest battle ever! Jay Cutler was beating Ronnie Coleman by 6 points after the first two rounds before the reigning Mr. Olympia turned on the power in the performance and posedown rounds to muscle out a victory by only 4 points.

The lower part of the abs is the most stubborn area to remove excess bodyfat. There are some diet and training tricks to help the process along, but you'll need a workout to compliment your other efforts.

Hoornstra also owns the world record mark in the 242-pound division for the raw bench press, which stands at 661 pounds. "Jeremy was tired of cutting weight. His lifts will soar as he grows into this class," added Bryant, who went on to say even though Hoornstra has a demanding job and is a family man, he is able to find a way to put in the time and work necessary to excel at the elite level.

About the Author
Derek Dolgner is interning with the MountainDog John Meadows as well as Elitefts.com to finish his Exercise-Science undergraduate degree from the University of LaCrosse Wisconsin. Dolgner started competing as an amateur bodybuilder in the NPC at 17 years old and his passion and love for the sport has continued to grow over the last 6 years. He hopes to follow in John's footsteps and become a positive influence in the fitness industry.

Come Kick your weekend off right in Vegas! HYDE's Friday Weekend Kick Off Party is LEGENDARY. Come See Why. Advanced General Admission and VIP Fast Pass Tickets are Highly Recommended. If you prefer Bottle Service, Book your reservations now before we sell out!

Baseball fans may be aware of Blue Jays shortstop Munenori Kawasaki, but for everyone else, let's just say he is a bit of a character. While he would the first to admit that he is a work in progress when it comes to perfecting the language of Shakespeare, he always gives it his best shot.

CHOCOLATE MILK
Muscle is built outside of the gym and ample recovery is critical. What you do in the gym is destroying muscle and with proper nutrition and rest you'll be able you to complete your gains. After a workout session you have approximately 30 minutes to help replenish lost glycogen stores, replace energy nutrients and preserve lean muscle tissue. Most brands of chocolate milk supply around 20 to 25 grams of carbohydrates and between 8 and 11 grams of protein (per 8 oz.), which makes for an optimal post-workout replenishment choice. Another key selling point to chocolate milk is that it comes from cow’s milk, which contains about 80% casein protein and 20% whey protein. Whey protein amino acids are immediately shoveled right into the muscles and casein protein amino acids are digested slowly over time.